I see a lot of people here in the comments claiming that this is still knee-jerk, or silly, or obviously that would not be an "official act".
To the contrary -- this is an explicit example that came up during oral arguments, where a Trump lawyer specifically claimed that indeed, Trump could not be convicted criminally of this (unless he had first been impeached and convicted).
Nowhere in the majority opinion does it try to draw some kind of line against this. And indeed, the President is constitutionally "commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States", and the opinion states this authority is "conclusive and preclusive".
Quite simply, according to this decision, anything the president commands the Navy to do, including a Navy Seal, is an official act because it a power explicitly granted by the constitution, and thus immune from prosecution.
To repeat: this specific scenario was brought up during oral arguments, indeed as one of the main arguments that was also widely reported. This is not a far-flung wacko example Sotomayor came up with herself -- it's the very heart of the case. The fact that the opinion does not even attempt to explain why this would still be considered criminal, and the fact the Sotomayor is confirming why it would be allowed, is not a misreading or a mistake. It is clearly intentional and genuinely scary.
Nice bit of jujitsu by Trump's defense. Make an outrageous claim so out of bounds that any one who quotes you sounds like a lunatic.
Surely the critic is exagerating, lying, offbase, or... ? No one would seriously claim they could murder some rando on Fifth Ave in broad daylight and get away with it. Right?!
To the contrary -- this is an explicit example that came up during oral arguments, where a Trump lawyer specifically claimed that indeed, Trump could not be convicted criminally of this (unless he had first been impeached and convicted).
Nowhere in the majority opinion does it try to draw some kind of line against this. And indeed, the President is constitutionally "commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States", and the opinion states this authority is "conclusive and preclusive".
Quite simply, according to this decision, anything the president commands the Navy to do, including a Navy Seal, is an official act because it a power explicitly granted by the constitution, and thus immune from prosecution.
To repeat: this specific scenario was brought up during oral arguments, indeed as one of the main arguments that was also widely reported. This is not a far-flung wacko example Sotomayor came up with herself -- it's the very heart of the case. The fact that the opinion does not even attempt to explain why this would still be considered criminal, and the fact the Sotomayor is confirming why it would be allowed, is not a misreading or a mistake. It is clearly intentional and genuinely scary.